In the News

April 15, 2010 | The White House's top ethics lawyer, Norman Eisen, is reportedly being floated for consideration as the president's top diplomat in the Czech Republic. If Eisen is selected, he would join many of President Barack Obama's prior ambassador picks in having helped raise significant sums of campaign cash for the president and other Democrats.

September 24, 2009 | The U.S. Senate vacancy created by the death of liberal lion Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) is prompting another trip through the revolving door of political influence for longtime Kennedy ally Paul G. Kirk, Jr. Kirk was an aide to Kennedy from 1969 until 1977. He subsequently went on to join the law firm Sullivan & Worcester, where he has worked as a partner and lobbyist. Since 1989, he and his wife have also given $65,325 to Democratic candidates and committees.

August 26, 2009 | Embattled political financier Hassan Nemazee, who faces decades in prison after federal authorities arrested him for allegedly attempting to secure a fradulent loan from Citigroup, has donated money to 75 federal political candidates, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

June 5, 2009 | With debate raging on the Internet about whether President Obama is targeting certain Chrysler dealerships for closure, the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics took a closer look at the numbers behind the donations of all domestic automobile dealers and found they have a history of favoring Republicans with their contributions.

February 12, 2009 | The close ties between Rep. John Murtha and a Washington lobbying firm raided by the FBI have put the powerful Pennsylvania Democrat under greater scrutiny. The lobbyists at PMA Group have been Murtha's fifth most generous campaign donor over time, but he is just one of 284 members of the 111th Congress who have collected money from the firm, which specializes in securing federal earmarks for its clients. In total, PMA Group's employees and its political action committee have given current members of Congress $3.4 million since 1989.

January 26, 2009 | Although it's unclear to what extent businessman Raghuveer Nayak was involved in Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged scheme to sell President Obama's Senate seat, what is clear is Nayak's commitment to funding the campaigns of the governor, the new president, the new vice president and others in Congress and the administration.

October 2, 2008 | Like reading tea leaves, one way to predict how a congressional race is going to go is by looking at the disparity in fundraising between the candidates. So far this election cycle, 280 House and Senate incumbents on November's ballot have collected at least 10 times more than the opponent they face in the general election. In this installment of Races to Watch, Capital Eye looks into why some of these incumbents have been such successful fundraisers.

September 23, 2008 | The last time Congress seriously debated how to regulate the financial industry, the result was legislation that allowed the nation's largest banks to get even larger and take risks that had been prohibited since the Great Depression. A look back at that debate, which was over the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act, reveals that campaign contributions may have influenced the votes of politicians who, a decade later, are now grappling with the implosion of the giant banks they helped to foster.

September 16, 2008 | While other members of Congress rush to dump contributions from a California billionaire who has pleaded guilty in a massive stock fraud case, Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) say they plan to keep thousands of dollars they received from the man, Henry Samueli, according to Politico. The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics has found that Samueli and his wife, Susan, have given more than $250,000 to federal candidates and committees since the 2000 election cycle.

September 12, 2008 | Uncle Sam bailed out Freddie Mac and the company's twin sister, Fannie Mae, this week, and the next in line in the Wall Street family to get a helping hand might just be Lehman Brothers. Executives at the struggling investment bank are looking to sell the company with assistance from the government--and fast--as its stock plunges. Although the government isn't expected to completely bail out Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, the company has built a strong financial relationship with politicians over the years and coincidentally ranks fourth in the largest contributors in the race for the White House.

September 11, 2008 | When the federal government announced two months ago that it would be seizing mortgage buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, CRP looked at how much money members of Congress had collected since 1989 from the companies. On Sunday the government proceeded with the takeover and we've returned to our data to bring you the updates, this time providing a list of all 354 lawmakers who have gotten money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (in July we posted the top 25).

August 25, 2008 | Barack Obama may be trying to keep lobbyists out of his campaign, but after selecting Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate in the upcoming presidential election, he won't be able to keep lobbyists out of the family. Biden's son, Hunter, has been a registered lobbyist since 2001, pushing the agenda of universities and biotech companies on Capitol Hill.

August 23, 2008 | Now that Barack Obama has announced his running mate, reporters will be scrambling to cover every aspect of Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.)--his politics, his personal life, what he adds to the Democrats' presidential ticket and what aspects could make him a liability for the party. At the Center for Responsive Politics, we've strung together our own observations about Biden's campaign fundraising and personal finances.

October 17, 2007 | Next summer, Denver, Colo., will play host to the Democrats’ nominating convention and the Minnesota “twin cities” of Minneapolis and St. Paul will do the same for the Republicans. Hosting a convention means increased tourism for the city and state and can galvanize political involvement by residents, which sometimes translates into political contributions. The Denver…

September 20, 2007 | Most donors in foreign countries appear to work in private industry, not in foreign service or the military, as first reported. The story has been updated to reflect this finding.)As globalization moves American executives to financial metropolises around the world and the Internet allows for easier connection among politically minded U.S. expatriates, the 2008 presidential candidates are expanding their fundraising efforts beyond the United States's borders.

July 17, 2007 | For candidates to prove their viability, they have to bring in funds at a rapid clip, especially with the record-breaking pace being set by the likes of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney. Obama managed to bring in an average of about $364,000 a day during the second quarter, Clinton’s haul was about $297,000…

July 16, 2007 | t’s never a good sign when you’re spending more money than you’re bringing in, even when you’ve got savings in the bank. Seven of the presidential candidates—five of them Republican—did just that second quarter, spending more than what they raised from April through June, with Democrat Christopher Dodd spending 134 percent of what he raised…

April 17, 2007 | Since candidates don’t have to itemize every donation—just those from contributors giving more than $200—it’s impossible to calculate an average donation from their campaign finance reports. But calculating the percentage of a candidate’s money that comes in small donations—$200 and under—is possible. Based solely on itemized donations, only 8 percent of Hillary Clinton’s first quarter…

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